Elevators

ABSTRACT

An elevator car assembly ( 10 ) comprises at least one runner ( 40 ) for engaging a wall ( 34 ) of a hoistway ( 30 ) such that the car assembly ( 10 ) may move within the hoistway ( 30 ) with the runner ( 40 ) in contact with the hoistway wall ( 30 ). The runner is preferably a wheel ( 40 ). The wheel ( 40 ) counteracts turning moments generated due to an offset between a suspension point of the car assembly ( 10 ) and its centre of gravity. Wheels ( 40 ) are preferably provided at a lower part of one side of the car assembly and at an upper part of an opposite side of the car assembly ( 10 ).

The present invention relates to elevators and in particular to theinstallation of elevators.

When installing elevator equipment such as guide rails in a hoistway, itis necessary to provide a platform within the hoistway for installationpersonnel to work on. Traditionally this has been done by erectingscaffolding within the hoistway. This is, however, costly andcumbersome, as not only must the scaffolding be erected in the firstplace, it must also be removed from the hoistway before the elevator caritself is installed.

It has therefore been proposed more recently to use the elevator caritself as an installation platform. Such an arrangement is described inWO 98/40305.

A particular problem arises in the installation of cantilever elevators.A cantilever elevator is one in which the guide rails of the elevatorsystem are arranged to one side of the elevator car such that theelevator car projects from the guide rails in a cantilever manner. Asshown in FIG. 1A, the elevator car 2 is typically mounted on a car frame4 which is itself mounted to the guide rails in use. Duringinstallation, a hoist is attached to the car frame at a suspensionlocation 6. However, the attachment location is offset from the centreof gravity 8 of the car 2. This creates a turning moment M as shown inFIG. 1A, which if not counteracted would lead to the car 2 rotating asshown in FIG. 1B.

Normally, this moment would counteracted by guide rollers provided onthe car frame 4 reacting on the guide rails. This means, however, thatin order for the car to be used as an installation platform, the guiderails must already be installed in the hoistway. This is disadvantageoussince the car cannot then be used to assist in installing the guiderails themselves. The present invention therefore seeks to overcome orat least mitigate the above problem.

From a first aspect, therefore, the invention provides an elevator carassembly comprising at least one runner arranged to engage a wall of ahoistway such that the car assembly may move within the hoistway withthe runner in contact with the hoistway wall.

Thus, in accordance with the invention, an elevator car assembly isprovided with one or more runners which allow the car to move up anddown in the hoistway, with the runners in engagement with the wall. Thisguides the car within the hoistway and counteracts any moment generatedby offset suspension loads.

From a second aspect, therefore, the invention provides an elevatorsystem comprising an elevator car assembly, the car assembly beingsuspended within a hoistway such that a turning moment is generated onthe car assembly, said elevator car assembly further comprising at leastone runner for engaging the hoistway wall so as to counter the turningmoment.

In a simple embodiment of the invention, the at least one runner may beprovided on just one side of the elevator car assembly. Moreparticularly, the at least one runner may be provided at a lower part ofthe elevator car assembly on the same side of the elevator car assemblyas the point or points of suspension of the car assembly. This isadvantageous as the turning moment generated by the weight of the carassembly will tend to rotate the lower end of the car assembly towardsthe elevator wall such that the runner will engage the hoistway wall andthereby limiting rotation of the car within the hoistway.

An arrangement such as that described above may be suitable forhoistways which are relatively wide in the direction of the rotation ofthe car. However, with narrower hoistways, the rotation of the car dueto the turning moment may bring the opposite, upper corner of the carassembly into contact with the opposite hoistway wall, therebypreventing movement of the car. In a further embodiment of theinvention, one or more further runners may be provided at upper,opposite side of the car assembly for engagement with the oppositehoistway wall.

Of course, depending on the particular layout of the hoistway, it may bepossible to provide one or more runners at just the upper location.

The runner may comprise a sliding element which may slide over thehoistway wall, but preferably the runner comprises a rolling element,for example, a roller or more preferably a wheel.

Preferably the roller or wheel has a resilient surface to better followany discontinuities in the hoistway wall and to minimise vibrations andnoise. For example, the wheel may be provided with a tyre, e.g. ofrubber.

A single runner may be provided in a or each desired location, butpreferably a plurality of runners is provided in each such location.Most preferably the runners are spaced apart across one or more sides ofthe car assembly so as to provide improved stability to the carassembly.

Preferably the car assembly comprises a car frame and car componentsmounted on that frame. The runners may be mounted to the frame and/orthe car components. Most conveniently the runners provided in the lowerpart of the car can be mounted to the elevator car frame, while those inthe upper part of the car can be mounted to a ceiling of the carassembly.

It will be understood that the invention also extends to a method ofhoisting a car assembly within a hoistway comprising applying a hoistingforce to the car assembly in such a position such as to create a turningmoment on the car assembly and providing at least one runner on the carassembly for engagement with a wall of the hoistway so as to counteractthe turning moment.

The invention also extends to a method of installing elevator equipmentin a hoistway comprising using a car assembly in accordance with theinvention as an installation platform, and also to a method of liftingelevator equipment in a hoistway using a car assembly in accordance withthe invention.

A preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described by way ofexample only with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which likereferences depict like features and in which:

FIGS. 1A and 1B illustrate schematically a cantilever elevator system;

FIG. 2 shows, schematically, a car assembly in accordance with theinvention;

FIG. 3 illustrates schematically the car assembly of FIG. 2 within ahoistway;

FIG. 4 shows, schematically, a wheel assembly mounted to the carassembly;

FIG. 5 shows inside elevation an elevator car assembly in accordancewith the invention in situ within a hoistway;

FIG. 6 shows in detail a wheel mounted on a car assembly;

FIG. 7 shows, schematically, the installation of the lower wheels on acar frame;

FIG. 8 illustrates installation of the upper wheels on the car assembly;

FIG. 9 shows the mounting of brackets on the car assembly;

FIG. 10 shows the car assembly being readied for hoisting in thehoistway;

FIG. 11 shows the car assembly being hoisted in the hoistway;

FIG. 12 shows the car assembly in position at the top of the hoistway;

FIG. 13 shows the car assembly in a position for installing hoistwayequipment;

FIG. 14 shows the installation of guide rail wall brackets using the carassembly; and

FIG. 15 shows removal of the wheel from the car assembly.

Referring firstly to FIG. 2, an elevator car assembly 10 in accordancewith the invention comprises a car body 12 and a car frame 14 whichsupports the car body 12. The car frame 14 is generally L-shaped havingtwo L-shaped side members 16 connected by cross members 18. EachL-shaped member 16 comprises a channel-sectioned vertical member 20 anda horizontal member 22 suitably attached to the vertical member 20.

The car body 12 comprises a floor 24 mounted on the horizontal framemember 22, wall panels 26 and a ceiling panel 28.

The car assembly 10 is shown located in a hoistway 30. When the elevatorsystem is fully installed, the vertical frame members 20 will mount thecar assembly to elevator guide rails 31 (FIG. 3) by rollers (not shown)provided within the frame members in a cantilever manner.

In order to raise the car assembly 10 in the hoistway 30 duringinstallation of the elevator system, a hoisting rope 32 illustratedschematically in FIG. 5 is attached to the upper part of the car frame14 so as to prevent hoisting forces being applied directly to the carbody 12. The hoisting rope 32 suspends the car assembly and asillustrated in FIGS. 1A and 1B, due to the offset between the suspensionpoints and the centre of gravity of the car assembly, a turning moment Mis generated. If not countered, this moment would cause the car assembly10 to rotate into contact with the hoistway walls 34.

In order to counter this moment, the car assembly 10 is provided with aplurality of wheels 40 which project from the car assembly 10 and engagethe hoistway walls 34. The wheels 40 are arranged in a lower pair 42 andan upper pair 44.

The wheels 40 of the lower pair 42 are mounted to the outer face 46 ofthe vertical car frame member 20. As shown in more detail in FIGS. 4 and6, each wheel 40 is mounted on a shaft 50 supported by a plate 52 whichis fixed, e.g. bolted to the vertical frame member 20 by fasteners suchas bolts 47.

The wheels 40 of the upper pair 44 are attached to the structuralceiling 28 of the elevator car in order to provide a firm support andhave a similar construction to those of the lower pair 42.

Each wheel has a resilient, e.g. rubber, tyre 48 for engaging thehoistway walls 34 to better follow any discontinuities in the hoistwaywall and minimise vibration and noise.

As can best be seen in FIG. 3, the wheels 40 of the respective upper andlower pairs 44, 42 are spaced apart laterally of the car assembly 10 soas substantially to prevent the car assembly 10 from rotating about avertical axis during hoisting. Thus in the embodiment shown, the carassembly is substantially prevented from rotating about both horizontaland vertical axes during hoisting.

As discussed in the introduction above, the advantage of the presentinvention is that it allows the car assembly to be used as aninstallation platform when installing elevator equipment within thehoistway 30. FIGS. 7-13 illustrate this schematically.

FIG. 7 shows a car frame 14 mounting a car floor 24 arranged at thebottom of a hoistway 30. The car frame 14 is supported by props 70. Withthe car assembly in this position, an operative 72 installs the lowerpair of wheels 42 to the vertical car frame members 20 as shown. Thewheels 40 are arranged to engage the hoistway wall 34

The operative 72 then builds the car body 12 onto the car frame 14 andcar floor 24. More specifically, sidewall panels 26 are built up andsuitably fastened to the floor 24 and frame 14, and the car ceiling 28positioned on top of the sidewalls 26 and affixed to the frame 14 by astructural bracket 74. This construction is sufficiently robust for theoperative 72 to be able to stand on the car ceiling 28 and install theupper pair 44 of wheels onto the car ceiling 28, as shown in FIG. 8.Again, the upper wheels 44 are arranged to contact the hoistway wall 34.

Once the upper pair of wheels 44 is installed on the car assembly 12,the car assembly can be hoisted through the hoistway 30. In order toeffect the hoisting, the operative 72 fits a lifting bracket 78 and amachine support bracket 80 to the respective frame members 20, as shownin FIG. 9.

The elevator machine 82 and its support 110 is then lifted into thehoistway 30 from an adjacent landing 84 and is mounted to the machinesupport bracket 80 for lifting within the hoistway 30.

Lifting pulleys 86 are then attached to the lifting brackets 78 as shownin FIG. 10 to receive a hoisting wire 88 for suspending the car assemblyin the hoistway. Finally, support chains 90, 92 for the machine 82 andfor the car assembly 10 respectively are also mounted to the assembly.

The operative 72 can then lift the car assembly 10 and elevator machine82 through the hoistway 30 using a hoist 94 controlled by a control unit96 until the car assembly 10 arrives at the top landing 100 of thehoistway 30, as shown in FIG. 12. The engagement of the wheels 40 withthe hoistway walls 34 prevents the car assembly 10 from rotating abouteither vertical or horizontal axes as it moves up the hoistway 30.

At the top landing 100, the operative 72 attaches the car assemblysupport chains 92 to hooks 102 in the ceiling 104 of the hoistway 30.The machine support chains 90 are then also attached to hooks 106 in thehoistway ceiling 104. Once this has been done, car guide rails 108 canbe introduced into the hoistway 30 and attached to the motor support110. In smaller hoistways, only one pair of hooks 102, 106 need beprovided, with the car assembly support chains 92 and the machinesupport chains 90 being attached to the same hooks.

Counterweight guide rails 112 and a counterweight (not shown) are alsointroduced into the hoistway. This allows drive belts 114 for theelevator to be installed, as shown in FIG. 13. The preferred ropingarrangement is a 2:1 roping arrangement with the respective ends of thedrive belts 114 being fixed in the top of the hoistway, for example tothe machine support 110, and passing around idler sheaves provided onthe counterweight and car frame 14 respectively and around drive sheaves116 of the machine 82. It will be appreciated that in otherinstallations other roping arrangements may be appropriate.

When this is done, the car assembly 10 may be moved up and down withinthe hoistway by means of the machine 82 which is, at this point, stillsupported on its chains 90. In effect the machine 82 is used as a hoist.As shown in FIG. 14, this can be effected by the operative 72 who isable to stand on the ceiling panel 28 of the elevator car. At this pointthe wheels 40 are still attached to the car assembly 10 so that themovement of the car assembly 10 within the hoistway is stabilised. Thisis necessary since the drive belts 114 are affixed to the car assembly10 offset from the latter's centre of gravity, such that a turningmoment is still generated by the weight of the car assembly 10.

As the car assembly 10 is moved down the hoistway 30, the operative isable to install system components such as guide rail support brackets120 on the hoistway wall 34.

When all necessary work has been completed in the hoistway 30, and thecar assembly has come to the base of the hoistway once more, theoperative 72 can then remove the wheels 40, as shown in FIG. 15. Themovement of the car thereafter is stabilised by the normal engagement ofthe car assembly 10 and the car guide rails 31. Up to that point, thewheels 40 prevent the car assembly 10 from tilting within the hoistway,thereby avoiding the need for the car frame to fully engage the guiderails 31.

It will be understood that the above description is of a preferredembodiment of the invention and that modifications may be made to thearrangement described without departing form the scope of the invention.For example, the invention is applicable to all cantilever typeelevators, not just the specific example described above.

1-22. (canceled)
 23. A cantilever elevator system comprising an elevatorcar assembly suspended within a hoistway such that a turning moment isgenerated on the car assembly, said elevator car assembly comprising atleast one runner for engaging a hoistway wall so as to counter theturning moment.
 24. A cantilever elevator system as claimed in claim 23,wherein the at least one runner is provided on one side of the elevatorcar assembly.
 25. A cantilever elevator system as claimed in claim 24,wherein the at least one runner is provided at a lower part of theelevator car assembly on the same side of the elevator car assembly asat least one point of suspension of the car assembly.
 26. A cantileverelevator system as claimed in claim 25, comprising at least one furtherrunner provided at an upper, opposite part of the car assembly forengagement with an opposite hoistway wall.
 27. A cantilever elevatorsystem as claimed in claim 24, wherein the at least one runner isprovided at an upper part of the elevator car assembly on the oppositeside of the elevator car assembly to at least one point of suspension ofthe car assembly.
 28. A cantilever elevator system as claimed in claim23, wherein the at least one runner comprises a sliding element.
 29. Acantilever elevator system as claimed in claim 23, wherein the at leastone runner comprises a rolling element.
 30. A cantilever elevator systemas claimed in claim 29, wherein the rolling element is a roller.
 31. Acantilever elevator system as claimed in claim 29, wherein rollingelement is a wheel.
 32. A cantilever elevator system as claimed in claim31, wherein the wheel is provided with a tire.
 33. A cantilever elevatorsystem as claimed in claim 29, wherein the roller element comprises aresilient surface.
 34. A cantilever elevator system as claimed in claim23, comprising a single runner provided in a desired location.
 35. Acantilever elevator system as claimed in claim 23, comprising aplurality of runners provided in desired locations.
 36. A cantileverelevator system as claimed in claim 35, wherein the runners are spacedapart across one or more sides of the car assembly.
 37. A cantileverelevator system as claimed in claim 23, wherein the car assemblycomprises a car frame and car components mounted on the car frame.
 38. Acantilever elevator system as claimed in claim 37, wherein at least onerunner is mounted to the frame.
 39. A cantilever elevator system asclaimed in claim 37, wherein one or more runners are mounted to the carcomponents.
 40. A cantilever elevator system as claimed in claim 39,wherein one or more runners are mounted to a ceiling of the carassembly.
 41. A method of hoisting a car assembly within a hoistwayduring installation of an elevator system, the method comprising thesteps of: applying a hoisting force to the car assembly in such aposition such as to create a turning moment on the car assembly; andproviding at least one runner on the car assembly for engagement with awall of the hoistway so as to counteract the turning moment.
 42. Amethod as claimed in claim 41, comprising installing car guide rails inthe hoistway.
 43. A method as claimed in claim 41, comprising installingdrive belts for the elevator system.
 44. A method as claimed in claim41, comprising subsequently removing the at least one runner.
 45. Amethod of installing elevator equipment in a hoistway, comprising: usinga car assembly as an installation platform, said car assembly comprisingat least one runner for engaging a wall of a hoistway such that the carassembly may move within the hoistway with the runner in contact withthe hoistway wall.
 46. A method of lifting cantilever elevator equipmentin a hoistway, comprising: using a car assembly comprising at least onerunner for engaging a wall of a hoistway with the runner in contact withthe hoistway wall.